All Rise...

The Charge

"Formula 1 was born in a bygone time, when boys' heroes reigned in the
skies."

Opening Statement

I had something of a Formula One awakening in 2013. I've never been overly
interested in the sport, but I had very much anticipated Ron Howard's Rush. Sadly, that film left me disappointed,
so I sought out 2010's Senna, which I had read
good things about. Those good things are true; Senna is superb. So when
the opportunity to see 1—a Formula One documentary I had never
heard of—presented itself, I raced to the chance. (I'm already sorry I
wrote that, and it won't happen again.)

Facts of the Case

1 is a documentary about the history of Formula One racing. It covers
the span of time from the 1930s to the 1990s, and is narrated by actor Michael
Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds).

The Evidence

1 wastes no time in getting your attention. It opens with a
spectacular crash by driver Martin Brundle, who not only emerges from the
wreckage unharmed, he sprints…SPRINTS…to the track doctor for
clearance so that he can get into his backup car and continue the race. This
establishes what you need to know: race cars are safe, race car drivers are a
breed apart, and you want to see that again.

And you do, but it doesn't always end so happily, because while the men of
Formula One have always been the different breed they are today, their cars
haven't always been as safe as they are today. This is the overlying narrative
to this (mostly) linear history of the sport: death and safety. Woven throughout
the history of the men, the money, and the motors of Formula One is the constant
reminder of just how dangerous the sport is.

You learn that in the earliest days, "protective headgear" was not really
protective and more closely resembled a swimming cap in both form and function.
As time marched on, titans of the sport's ownership—led by Enzo
Ferrari—built bigger engines to make faster cars. Others chose a more
scientific route, adding wings to increase speed by affecting aerodynamics.

In what is now one of my favorite sports quotes of all time, Enzo Ferrari
said, "Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines." Boom.

While the sport's automotive advances lurched forward, driver safety
remained stagnant. Even after speeds doubled yet everything else stood still,
the governing body itself essentially dismissed driver safety by stating that
the drivers control the speed of the machines, so they should simply drive
slower.

Reminders of the dangers of the sport, and the efforts to improve its
safety, are oft touted via on-camera interviews with legends of the sport like
Jackie Stewart (the sport's biggest safety proponent), Michael Schumacher, and
Niki Lauda. Other times, though, real footage of real crashes stop the narrative
cold—and to intense effect. I found myself audibly reacting to the
suddenness of more than one crash.

Director Paul Crowder (The Last Play at Shea) does a great job at
keeping the subject matter interesting, maximizing the endless amounts of
footage made available to him. That footage, like the footage used in Senna, puts you in the driver's seat in a way Rush failed to. There is so much great racing
footage in this film, from all angles (visual and thematic), that if Formula One
doesn't have an NFL Films equivalent, this could be the start of it.

The clarity of the Blu-ray transfer, presented in 1.78:1 1080p, is very
good, and only uneven because of the source material. There is much unrestored
historical footage that is used throughout the film, and while that imagery is
clear, it still shows its age. This is even more evident when footage form
varying eras (and thus varying qualities) is shown back-to-back or side-by-side.
The imagery of the footage shot specifically for the film—the interviews
and some vfx-modified shots—is excellent. The TrueHD 5.1 audio track is
also solid, with clear dialogue and music during the interviews, and an emphasis
on the rumble of the engines as opposed to the whiz of the cars during those
scenes.

Unfortunately, there are no extras.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I have finally found something that Michael Fassbender is bad at: narration,
at least here. His flat and emotionless delivery of the text suggests he is
terribly disinterested in the subject.

I also wish they hadn't stopped at Senna's death. I understand that a main
theme of the film is race safety, and the film is quick to note that there have
been no deaths in the sport since Senna's, which is what prompted even greater
safety changes. Still, it's a history of the sport first and a history of the
sport's safety second. They could have at least brought the tale into the
current millennium.

Closing Statement

There is a length of footage of a qualifying lap in Monaco as run by the
late, great Aryton Senna. The POV is from his dashboard camera. This clip alone
is worth the price of 1 (Blu-ray). The rest is icing—a lot of
icing.